Methods and apparatus for coordinating inter-region operations in provider networks. An inter-region coordinator (IRC) operates asynchronously to the control planes of regional networks to coordinate inter-region operations. The IRC in a region may include one or more IRC servers. To perform inter-region operations, the servers may implement a local-remote-local method in which a server invokes an API in the local region to get work, sends the work to a control plane of a remote region, receives a response from the remote region, and informs the control plane in the local region of the status of the work.

A network operating system (NOS) acquires, for a plurality of network functions that achieve a network slice constructed on a mobile wireless communication network, information on an operation of each network function which is measured by one or more apparatus configured to provide at least a part of the plurality of network functions. The NOS derives an evaluation index value of each of the plurality of network functions based on the information on the operation of each of the plurality of network functions, and derives an evaluation index value of the network slice based on the evaluation index values of the plurality of network functions.

The invention relates to a method, by a policy controller 100, for generating policy rules for data packet flows in a communications network. The policy controller 100 has access to a policy database 130 and stores a service level agreement. The service level agreement contains a plurality of different service level identifiers, each service level identifier being associated with a set of conditions that govern the policy rules to be applied to the data packet flows in the communications network. The method comprises the following steps: An authorization request is received for a data packet flow, the authorization request comprising service information for a service and a service level identifier. The policy database 130 is accessed and the set of conditions associated with the received service level identifier is determined. Further, based on the determined set of conditions, a policy rule to be applied to the data packet flow is generated. Policy controller 100 is configured to generate policy rules based on a third party or company profile, with the third party company being able to influence which policy rule should be selected by the policy controller. The authorization request may be received directly from an application function, AF 200. An input unit 230 is provided via which the third party can define and agree upon the service level agreement with an operator of the communications network. A policy control enforcing function PCEF 51 can interact with the PCRF 100 in order to enforce the policy rules.

A method for enabling a charging of packet switched data transfer between an authorized customer and a network. The method includes transferring a total data volume via at least a first data path and a second data path between an equipment related to the authorized customer and a hybrid access aggregation point (HAAP) as an access to the network. Each of the at least a first data path and a second data bath use a different access technology for transferring its respective part of the total data volume. The total data volume is determined as a sum of the respective parts of the total data volume transferred in both the first path and the second path. The total data volume is used by a central charging unit for a charging.

A method and system for providing a NS instance satisfying a requested availability of a NSI comprises obtaining at least one VNFD for a VNF composing the NS, the VNFD being associated with at least one absolute availability value guaranteed according to at least one DF; obtaining an availability value of NFVI on which the VNF is to be deployed; determining a minimum availability value for a NS instance of the NS; selecting a VNF DF and RM for the VNF DF such that the product of the absolute availability value of the VNF DF, taking into account the selected RM, and of the availability value of the NFVI is greater than or equal to the minimum availability value for the NS instance; and instantiating the NS instance by instantiating at least one VNF instance according to the at least one selected VNF DF and corresponding RM.

Various systems and methods for implementing an edge computing system to realize 5G network slices with blockchain traceability for informed 5G service supply chain are disclosed. A system configured to track network slicing operations includes memory and processing circuitry configured to select a network slice instance (NSI) from a plurality of available NSIs based on an NSI type specified by a client node. The available NSIs uses virtualized network resources of a first network resource provider. The client node is associated with the selected NSI. The utilization of the network resources by the plurality of available NSIs is determined using an artificial intelligence (AI)-based network inferencing function. A ledger entry of associating the selected NSI with the client node is recorded in a distributed ledger, which further includes a second ledger entry indicating allocations of resource subsets to each of the NSIs based on the utilization.

Various systems and methods for implementing an edge computing system to realize 5G network slices with blockchain traceability for informed 5G service supply chain are disclosed. A system configured to track network slicing operations includes memory and processing circuitry configured to select a network slice instance (NSI) from a plurality of available NSIs based on an NSI type specified by a client node. The available NSIs uses virtualized network resources of a first network resource provider. The client node is associated with the selected NSI. The utilization of the network resources by the plurality of available NSIs is determined using an artificial intelligence (AI)-based network inferencing function. A ledger entry of associating the selected NSI with the client node is recorded in a distributed ledger, which further includes a second ledger entry indicating allocations of resource subsets to each of the NSIs based on the utilization.

The technologies described herein are generally directed to facilitating the allocation, scheduling, and management of network slice resources. According to an embodiment, a system can comprise a processor and a memory that can store executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can include receiving proposed contract data representative of a proposed contract for access by an application of a user equipment device to resources of a network slice usable for the access by the application. The operations can further include, based on the proposed contract data, storing governing contract data representative of a governing contract in a storage device, with the governing contract being selected to control the access by the application to the resources of the network slice. The operations can further include scheduling use of the resources of the network slice by the application based on the governing contract data.

A communication management apparatus suppresses occurrence of a communication anomaly in a cluster by including: an acquisition unit acquiring quantities of traffic of communications performed by one or more communication units operating in each of a plurality of computers constituting a cluster; a prediction unit predicting future quantities of traffic of the communications; an identification unit calculating, for each of the computers, a total of the future quantities of traffic of the communication units operating in the computer and identifying a first computer for which the total exceeds a threshold; and a move control unit controlling, for a communication unit operating in the first computer, move to a second computer.

A communication management apparatus suppresses occurrence of a communication anomaly in a cluster by including: an acquisition unit acquiring quantities of traffic of communications performed by one or more communication units operating in each of a plurality of computers constituting a cluster; a prediction unit predicting future quantities of traffic of the communications; an identification unit calculating, for each of the computers, a total of the future quantities of traffic of the communication units operating in the computer and identifying a first computer for which the total exceeds a threshold; and a move control unit controlling, for a communication unit operating in the first computer, move to a second computer.